1. Field of the Invention
THIS INVENTION relates to lightweight safety spectacles. The term "safety spectacles" shall include safety glasses and safety eyewear protection.
2. Prior Art
Safety authorities around the world have set standards for eye protection in industrial applications. For example, Australia and New Zealand have established Standard "AS/NZS 1337-1992" for such eye protectors. The standards usually set down criteria for the eye protectors and include parameters such as (a) dimensions, (b) visual quality, (c) optical quality, (d) materials, (e) ventilation, (f) impact resistance, (g) penetration resistance, (h) thermal stability and (i) protection against corrosion. Other criteria may also be specified.
Even the best eye protectors will not be worn, even if specified in a workplace, if the wearers find them uncomfortable or restricting to wear.
Employees will tend to oppose the provision, or replacement, of eye protectors if they are expensive to purchase.
To be acceptable, eye protectors must satisfy the legislated safety criteria; be comfortable and easy to wear; and be inexpensive to purchase. The task for eye protection manufacturers is to answer three conflicting criteria.
Examples of safety spectacles are disclosed in, inter alia, U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,214 (BOLLE); U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,125 (PHILLIPS); U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,909 (BELL); U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,986 (GOWDY, Jr.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,558 (BLACKSTONE); U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,258 (LACHMAN et al); Des. Pat. No. 356,322 (BOLLE); Des. Pat. No. 317,012 (HIRSCHMAN); Des. Pat. No. 337,595 (REYMONDET et al); and Des. Pat. No. 334,758 (REYMONDET et al).
Generally, the safety spectacles disclosed therein are assembled from a large number of components and so are relatively expensive to manufacture and assemble.
Furthermore, they generally do not include a browguard to prevent articles, eg., metal or glass slivers, sparks, etc., falling between the lenses and the wearer's forehead into the wearer's eyes.
Both U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,909 (PHILLIPS) and Des. Pat. No. 356,322 (BOLLE) do disclose browguards, but the overall constructions are still complex and require the assembly of a number of components (including moulded plastic components).